The present invention relates to a photographing method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a photographing method and apparatus using face pose estimation.
An automatic photographing function using a face recognition function reduces a failure rate of photographing by not only detecting a face but also by performing a suitable operation on a certain facial expression recognized in a facial expression of the detected face. For example, a picture is not taken when a person blinks or a picture is automatically taken when a person smiles.
Japanese Patent No. 2005-56367 discloses a technology of suitably taking a picture of a face desired by a user by detecting a facial expression. In other words, an image including a face is input, a plurality of local features are detected from the input image, and then a face area is detected from the detected plurality of local features. Accordingly, a facial expression is determined by comparing each local feature in the detected face area and each local feature in a pre-determined face area.
According to a conventional technology, a picture may be automatically taken according to a certain facial expression, for example, waiting to take a picture when a person closes their eyes or automatically taking a picture when a person smiles, but it is not possible to automatically take a picture according to a direction of a face. For example, it is not possible to prevent photographing when a face of a subject is not looking at a camera.